Chapter Text
“Pearl!” Kitty cried. She tried to recall her pokemon back to the Dive Ball, even though she knew it was futile. She could feel the flames burning around her, and knew how much pain poor Pearl must be in right now.
“Your Clamperl is trapped,” Juliana stated coldly. “She can’t escape. Now, use night shade once again, Sol.”
“Ceruledge,” Sol nodded, and raised his sword arms. They began to burn with ghostly fire and crackle with energy as he directed the attack at the helpless little mussel.
“Pearl!” Kitty shouted, her eyes flashing as she used her harmonia. “Use water pulse to counter the attack!”
“Clamperl!” Pearl sent out a shockwave of water that smothered the flames of the fire spin, and slammed into the night shade attack. The two blows canceled each other out, much to Kitty’s surprise. She hadn’t thought she’d put THAT much power into it!
“W-wow!” She gasped, relief washing over her. “You did it! Way to go, Pearl!”
“Night shade is a useful attack for a situation like this,” Juliana admitted. “But it has limited power. The amount of damage it does is capped at the level of the attacking pokemon. Which means even a move like that can counter it.”
Kitty was glad to hear it. That meant she could go on the offensive!
“Pearl, use whirlpool again!” She shouted. It wasn’t a strong move, but it was a useful one. Especially against a Fire type pokemon, even if Ceruledge was part Ghost type.
The main reason? Because it was so hard to dodge.
She put everything she had into the attack, gathering up all of her harmonia, and Pearl summoned a massive whirlpool to attack with.
“Clamperl!” Pearl cried, sending the swirling tornado of water at the Ceruledge.
“A strong move, but a slow one,” Juliana snapped. “Shadow sneak!”
“Ceruledge.” Sol sank into the ground, and his shadow moved around the twister of water. He shot towards Pearl, and emerged from the shadows ready to strike.
“Clamp!” Pearl cried, and shut her shell tight just seconds before the pokemon’s blade struck.
Knowing he wouldn’t be able to break the surface of her shell, Sol went for a sneaky attack instead. He struck his sword right at the side of Pearl’s shell, and used his blade as a lever to send her flying into the air.
“Pearl!” Kitty cried, her eyes widening. Her poor pokemon was defenseless up there! “Quick, harden your shell with iron defense!”
“Clamperl!” Pearl, still shut tight, hardened her shell even more to boost her defensive abilities. But Juliana anticipated that.
“Psycho cut,” she ordered.
“Ceruledge!” Sol raised his arm and covered his blade with psychic energy. He swung his sword, and sent a rainbow-colored wave of light flying towards the tightly-shut Pearl.
The attack struck directly, exploding around her as she fell into the grass. But she popped open, looking pretty fine.
“So it wasn’t a critical hit.” That had been what Juliana had been gambling on. Kitty sighed, and exhaled. She was relieved… but her pokemon wasn’t out of the woods yet.
“Pearl, use water gun again,” she ordered.
“Clamperl!” Pearl fired a blast of water at Sol, who leapt back. Unfortunately, he was a lot faster than the Clamperl, and Kitty was finding herself trapped in a position quite similar to the one she’d tried to lure Juliana into. Pearl just couldn’t land any hits!
“Night shade,” Juliana ordered.
“Counter with water pulse!” Kitty shouted back.
The two attacks collided in the air, and smothered each other. Both shockwaves were rendered ineffective, which was good.
Kitty really didn’t want to be on the receiving end of another one of those. Not only did they make her harmonia useless, but they really, really hurt.
She didn’t like getting hurt, for obvious reasons.
“Pearl…” Kitty’s hands shook. She didn’t know what she should do, honestly. Her Clamperl didn’t have very many attacks. That was one of the downsides of a pokemon like her. If her Water type moves weren’t doing anything…
No! We’ll think of something! We’ve got to! Kitty encouraged herself, smacking her cheeks again. She needed to keep a level head, and the chance for victory would present itself!
The big problem? The grassy terrain. It was still on the field, which meant all the damage that Larosa had inflicted on that Ceruledge was slowly being recovered. If Juliana kept dragging this out, then it would lead to Larosa’s sacrifice being for nothing.
Kitty had a choice to make… and she wasn’t sure if it was a good one or not.
Pearl… can you hear me? She connected with her pokemon, wanting to make sure that she was okay with this. After all, if this next move backfired, it would be her that would take a lot of damage from it, not Kitty.
Are you sure? She asked, sensing that her pokemon was on the same page as she was. As nice as that was to hear… it still didn’t make the order Kitty was about to give feel any better.
But they couldn’t win by just defending.
“Okay!” Kitty’s eyes opened, and she focused her harmonia. “Let’s go, Pearl! Time for that move! You know the one!”
It was a move that they’d been practicing ever since the battle with the Stony Cliff Titan, when they’d learned just how potent it was. But they’d never gotten the chance to use in a real battle before. A trump card of sorts… and a risky one.
But a little risk could go a long way.
“Clamperl!” Pearl focused her energy… and then her shell started to crack.
“Oh?” Juliana leaned forward slightly, intrigued. Scraps from Pearl’s shell began to shed off of her, and the hard surface turned sleek and streamlined.
“Your Ceruledge is really fast, and Peal… she isn’t,” Kitty said, narrowing her eyes. “But we can keep up with you this way! With shell smash!”
“Clamperl!” Pearl lunged forward, moving with surprising speed for such an immobile pokemon. It was almost like she propelled herself with pure will, but that wasn’t the case. In fact, she used water to launch herself at the other pokemon, catching the Ceruledge off-guard.
“Whirlpool!” Kitty ordered as Pearl covered her own body with water, turning herself into a whirlpool that spun quickly towards the sword-wielding pokemon.
“So you used shell smash to boost speed and power, and turned your pokemon into a projectile to attack with… all without giving an order,” Juliana observed. “That is quite a benefit of that power of yours, being able to come up with strategies like that on the fly.”
Kitty cracked a grin. “Exactly!” She nodded. “Thanks to shell smash, Pearl’s speed, special attack, and even regular attack have all risen by two levels!”
Of course, that came with a significant downside. By shattering her shell’s outer covering and strengthening herself, Pearl’s defense and special defense had both taken a significant hit. With the iron defenses she’d used it shouldn’t be that severe of a cost… but Kitty was a cautious girl at heart, and wasn’t sure how this would ultimately end up going.
She had to hope that Pearl had this covered.
“Shadow claw,” Juliana ordered.
“Ceruledge!” Sol shouted, and to Kitty’s shock, he plunged right into the center of the incoming maelstrom.
“No way!” Kitty gasped. “You… you sent your pokemon into the whirlpool?! But that’s so reckless, why would you do that?!”
“Sol trusts me completely, just as your Clamperl trusts you,” Juliana responded simply. “He knows his strength, and he knows that I know how much he can take. And because of that bond, we both know… that your Clamperl isn’t strong enough to withstand this.”
Shadows danced within the whirlpool as Kitty tried to make out the presence of the Ceruledge. But even when she connected to what Pearl could see, she couldn’t make out the attacking pokemon.
Not until he was right in front of her.
“Ceruledge!”
A blast of shadow hit Pearl directly, and for Kitty, it felt like she had just gotten her chest caved in. She doubled over in pain and hugged her arms as Pearl was flung out of the whirlpool.
“Clampeeeeeerrlll!” Pearl wailed as she tumbled through the sky, badly injured.
“Shell smash did not simply reduce your defense,” Juliana stated, shaking her head. “It also opened up your pokemon’s weaknesses. With that, Sol was able to pinpoint the vulnerability on your Clamperl’s shell, and land the perfect critical hit.”
Pearl was falling fast, but it wouldn’t even get to that point, because Sol broke free from the tempest and raised his swords. Even the force of the whirlpool had yet to extinguish his flames.
“Night shade,” Juliana ordered again.
Pearl was too stunned from the pain to try countering. She could do nothing but let the ghostly flames consume her, and consume her she did.
“CLAMPERL!” She screamed as she hit the grass, and Kitty screamed as well. She could feel the spectral flames searing into her soul, and it didn’t matter how hard Pearl tried to resist- there was nothing she could do.
When the flames finally died, it wasn’t an act of mercy on Sol’s part. It was because Pearl couldn’t withstand them anymore, and had fainted.
Kitty, crestfallen, recalled the Clamperl to her pokeball.
“You can think on your feet and you have strong pokemon, Kitty.” Juliana could make even nice things somehow not sound like compliments. “But that won’t be enough to defeat my pokemon. So is that all you have?”
“…No!” Kitty stubbornly replied, defiant to Juliana’s words even though she could see her chance for victory was quickly dwindling. No matter how much damage she inflicted on Ceruledge, it never felt like enough.
But she wasn’t going to give up. She still had pokemon left, and she wanted to keep fighting, just to show Juliana what she could do!
Even if this was just a casual match between friends, she really wanted the other girl’s respect, and would do anything to show that she was deserving of it.
After recalling Pearl to the Dive Ball, finally, she let out the breath she was holding an reevaluated the situation.
Ceruledge is really strong… but he IS weakening, she noted. We can do this. I know we can! I’m not going to let it end on such a pathetic note! Not when Dolly’s watching this whole thing! She glanced at her precious little Smoliv, who was trembling with fear. But even Dolly was trying to be brave, fighting her timidity to watch Kitty from the sidelines and cheer. Kitty could feel the hope coming from her pokemon, and knew that Dolly was rooting for her.
That meant quite a lot.
She gritted her teeth and grabbed another pokeball from her belt.
“Meomo!” She shouted, relying on her trusty Persian. “It’s up to you! I know you can take this guy down!”
“Persian!” Meomo hissed, emerging from his pokeball with his claws extended.
“A Persian? That’s quite an interesting choice.” Juliana nodded in approval. “A Normal type to fight a Ghost type?”
“Meomo is no ordinary Normal type,” Kitty replied, mentally smacking herself for not saying the much cooler “not a normal Normal type” instead.
“Oh?”
“Just watch!” Her eyes flashed, and she connected directly with her pokemon, giving him all the strength she could muster. “Meomo! Use power gem!”
“Persian!” Moemo leaned in close to the ground, and summoned several large rubies like the one on his forehead. The rounded stones hovered in the air, glowing with energy, and then flew towards the Ceruledge in a hail of stone.
“A Rock type move? It seems like you are full of surprises,” Juliana admitted. “But you will need to do far better than that. Sol, use psycho cut.”
“Ceruledge!” Sol raised his swords and sent out two shockwaves of psychic energy that smashed through the stones before they even got close to him.
“That’s just what we wanted!” Kitty shouted. “Now go, Meomo! Hit him with your feint attack!”
Before Juliana could respond, Meomo was already gone. He faded off into the darkness, disappearing from the battlefield completely.
“So that’s your trick then.” Juliana looked around, surveying the field. “You hid your pokemon in the shadows as well.”
“Kinda like what you did,” Kitty replied with a rueful grin. “Only this is gonna hurt a lot more, just you watch! Go, Meomo!”
“Persian!” Meomo reappeared from the darkness and lunged at Sol, slamming into him with his claws extended.
But Sol was fast, even if he wasn’t as fast as the Persian. He turned and swung his sword, slicing into Meomo’s side.
Kitty winced as she felt her stomach start to burn. She tried to hold it back, she really did, but then she let out a scream.
“…Yeaaarrgh!” She howled, nearly falling to her knees. “Ow! Ow, ow! That hurts so bad!” She wailed. Even when her Growlithe had been struck in the side, it didn’t hurt this bad! It felt like her whole stomach was burning!
“That’s a taste of Ceruledge’s bitter blade,” Juliana informed Kitty. “It’s Sol’s strongest move. But your Persian seems to be handling it very well.”
In spite of the pain Kitty was in, Meomo held his ground. He panted, snarling at the Ghost type pokemon and glaring at him.
Then, to Kitty’s shock and horror, something started to happen. Sol’s armor… it began to repair itself! His flames intensified, as his wounds healed.
“What… what’s going on?!” Kitty demanded. “Your pokemon, it’s healing! But how?!”
“Bitter blade,” Juliana said plainly. “It’s the signature move of Ceruledge. It uses the pokemon’s spite and malice to extract energy from the target with its ghostly flames, burning them down to the bone. And that energy is then absorbed by Sol, and used to restore his health.”
Kitty couldn’t believe her ears.
“A… a recovery move?! A Fire type one!?” She exclaimed. “But that’s insane! Only Grass type moves can do that, right!?”
Juliana shook her head. “Bitter blade gives that benefit to Fire types as well,” she informed the other girl. She almost sounded sad. “Sol’s health has increased marginally, since it was only a glancing blow… which was offset considerably by the force of your feint attack, it seems well done, Kitty.”
She wasn’t wrong. Sol looked like he’d barely recovered any health from that attack. Meomo’s feint attack had certainly done a lot of damage.
But that wasn’t enough for Kitty. She didn’t want to hurt Juliana’s pokemon, she wanted to beat them! And it was clear that would be easier said than done.
“Okay, Meomo, we need to be careful,” she warned her Persian. “Get back! We still have the advantage in speed, after all!”
“Persian,” Meomo nodded. He leapt back, moving at a speed that surprised even Juliana.
“So fast, and without even using agility…”
Kitty smiled proudly at her Persian. “Meomo’s base speed is 115,” she informed the other girl. “He’s a very fast pokemon! And you can’t even hit him with night shade, either, because he’s a Normal type too!”
“True,” Juliana nodded. “But psycho cut is another matter.”
“Ceruledge!” Sol raised his sword and swung it, sending a shockwave of psychic energy at the Persian from behind.
Kitty shook her head. “Won’t work! Meomo, use iron tail!”
“Persian!” Meomo spun on his heels, and swung his tail at the incoming blade of psychic energy. Silver light covered his tail as it hardened to become as strong as steel, and he cleaved right through the rainbow blade.
“Nice work, Meomo!” Kitty cheered. Because of how he’d positioned the attack, he hadn’t even gotten injured! “Now, use screech!”
“PERSIAN!” Meomo released a screeching yowl from deep within his throat, stunning the Ceruledge in his tracks.
Juliana winced, looking slightly bothered by the shockwave of sound, but only slightly. She still carried herself with total stoicism, like nothing Kitty could do would matter.
Well… Kitty would show her!
“You’re a really strong trainer, Juliana! Really, you are!” Kitty couldn’t compliment her enough. “But my pokemon and I, we’re strong, too! And even though your Ceruledge took down two of them… Meomo… Meomo can win!”
“Persian!” Meomo charged directly at the Ceruledge, running straight for him. It was an insane move, and a definitely risky one.
Juliana decided to meet the challenge head-on.
“Show me what you can do with that harmonia of yours,” she declared. “Bitter blade!”
“Ceruledge!” Sol’s entire arm was engulfed in ghostly flames, and he lunged at Meomo, swinging a blade of pure fire right at the incoming Persian.
But then Meomo disappeared.
“Ceruledge?!” Sol pulled to a stop, caught off-guard by the sudden disappearance of his foe. He looked around frantically, wondering where the Persian could have gone.
“She used feint attack again,” Juliana realized. “She must have given the order silently, with her harmonia. Be on your guard!”
Sol was vigilant, watching from every side for where Meomo would emerge while his sword burned with spiteful flames.
Kitty smiled.
“I did give him an order silently,” she admitted. “But it wasn’t to use feint attack! Go, Meomo!”
“Persian!” Meomo erupted from the ground, digging his claws into Sol’s side. Kitty had ordered him to use dig, and at the last second he escaped underground, using the tall grass as cover! He could dig much faster than Larosa, so neither trainer nor pokemon suspected a thing!
Sol was knocked over, and landed in the grass. Caught completely unawares, he opened himself up to another attack from the Persian.
And Kitty had the perfect one.
“Foul play!” She shouted to Meomo.
“Persian!” Meomo’s body began to glow with dark energy and he raised his claw, relying on the strength of the buffed Ceruledge for this next attack.
He drove his claws down into Sol’s chest, and shattered his armor.
“CERULEDGE!” The Ghost type pokemon roared as the super-effective attack smashed into him, and he finally, finally succumbed.
Kitty couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Yes!” She cheered, high on her victory. “We did it! We got him!” Her face glowed with joy.
